RELEASE: Georgia Democrats and Education Advocates Agree–Brian Kemp Would Gut Public Education

Kemp Proposes Doubling Student Scholarship Organizations and Supports Opportunity School District

ATLANTA — Today, to coincide with the first week of school for Georgia students, State Representative Brenda Lopez, State Senator Tonya Anderson, and other public education advocates convened to discuss exactly why Brian Kemp is bad for public education. Georgia’s public education system is ranked 33rd in the country, yet Brian Kemp wants to take even more money out of public schools and put it into private schools’ pockets.

Brian Kemp supported the failed Opportunity School District initiative, which Georgia voters rejected with 60% of the electorate voting against it. Now, Brian Kemp has proposed doubling the tax credit for Student Scholarship Organizations, a backdoor bid to move funding away from the state’s public school system. If Brian Kemp has his way, funding would be substantially decreased.

“Brian Kemp wants to double the funding for Student Scholarship Organizations, which is just another name for school vouchers,” said Rep. Brenda Lopez, member of Georgia’s Education Committee. “60% of Georgians who believe in public schools fought off the Opportunity School District once, and we must fight Brian Kemp off again.”

“Under Brian Kemp, we are going to see plenty of public schools shut down and the resources that our children and teachers need completely decimated,” said Sen. Tonya Anderson. “Teachers are already spending their own money on resources. Brian Kemp would only serve to make it even harder to prepare our students for the future.”

“I’ve served as a counselor for the last 21 years. I’ve seen firsthand the decay of our public education system under Republican leadership,” said retired counselor Toney Chandler. “Brian Kemp wants to completely give up on public education. On the other hand, Stacey Abrams wants to uplift our public education system.”

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